Microsoft's Linux Labors: A Signal of Defeat?

"Microsoft is adding code to the kernel to help make it work better for Microsoft, and that is exactly how Open Source works," Google+ blogger Kevin O'Brien suggested. "Everyone scratches their own itch, and the wonderful thing about Open Source is that we all get to benefit," he explained. "I hope Microsoft continues to offer code to Open Source."

But guess what? A new report from the Linux Foundation recently offered news that many consider equally momentous -- and potentially just as encouraging for FOSS.

"For the first time, Microsoft appears on [the] list of companies that are contributing to the Linux kernel,"
noted the foundation in a press release last week announcing the latest edition of its report on the state of the Linux kernel.

'Microsoft Is Working to Adapt'

"Ranking at number 17, the company that once called Linux a 'cancer' today is working within the collaborative development model to support its virtualization efforts and its customers," the announcement adds. "Because Linux has reached a state of ubiquity, in which both the enterprise and mobile computing markets are relying on the operating system, Microsoft is clearly working to adapt."

Yes, that's right, folks -- Microsoft is now in the top 20 list of the Linux kernel's biggest contributors. And no, the news didn't break on April 1!

Indeed, "they made changes to allow Linux servers to be hosted on WinServer through their VM software," added Slashdot blogger hairyfeet. "Not much of a surprise there; this lets their customers run LAMP for webserving while still having AD and GPOs for their internal servers.

"It's just good business to give your customers what they want," hairyfeet added.

'One Doesn't Have to Be a Fan'

There are "plenty of prebuilt LAMP VMs that are about as trivial to deploy as one can possibly get, so it only makes sense that some of MSFT's WinServer customers would want to be able to deploy LAMP stacks on their Winserver VMs," hairyfeet explained.

"One doesn't have to be a fan of a piece of software to support it -- see Apple having iTunes and Safari on windows," he pointed out.

"While I'm sure they would prefer that people went out and bought $1000 MacBooks to use with their iPod, the reality is that many iPod owners have Windows machines," hairyfeet added. "It would hurt Apple's bottom line not to support them, so they do."

'A Good Step Forward'

In fact, "Microsoft is adding code to the kernel to help make it work better for Microsoft, and that is exactly how Open Source works," Google+ blogger Kevin O'Brien suggested.

"Everyone scratches their own itch, and the wonderful thing about Open Source is that we all get to benefit," he explained. "I hope Microsoft continues to offer code to Open Source."

Similarly, "most of the work Microsoft is doing has to to with making sure Linux works with their own products, but it is still a good step forward in dealing with them," opined consultant and Slashdot blogger Gerhard Mack.

"It's good to welcome Microsoft to this great effort," offered Chris Travers, a Slashdot blogger who works on the LedgerSMB project.

'That Other OS Will Become Irrelevant'

Last but not least, blogger
Robert Pogson took a dark view not just of Microsoft's intentions, but also of any potential benefits for its bottom line.

"M$'s contribution to Linux is merely to make their OS run in virtual machines on Linux nicely," he said. "Good luck on that... I think most in IT will figure out that it's silly to have a good OS run a poor OS."

Sooner or later, "everyone will have the applications they need in GNU/Linux or on servers, so that other OS will become increasingly irrelevant," he predicted. "In my life that happened a decade ago; others take more time to see the light."

Katherine Noyes has been writing from behind Linux Girl's cape since late 2007, but she knows how to be a reporter in real life, too. She's particularly interested in space, science, open source software and geeky things in general. You can also
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